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Spending time with your children will help keep
them off drugs.
Kids who learn from their parents about the dangers of tobacco
and other harmful substances are less likely to use those
substances.
Kids who learn about substance abuse from their parents are:
36 percent less likely to smoke marijuana
50 percent less likely to use inhalants
56 percent less likely to use cocaine
65 less likely to use LSD
Forty percent of U.S. teens say they expect
to use a drug in the future.
Teens who smoke cigarettes are more likely to drink alcohol.
Teens who smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol
are more likely to use marijuana.
Teens who smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and
use marijuana are more likely to use other illicit drugs.
Long-term studies show that use of other illicit
drugs among youth almost never occurs unless they have first
used marijuana.
Club drugs such as ecstasy can lead to depression,
drug cravings, paranoia (and in some cases psychotic episodes),
blurred vision and dangerous increases in heart rate and blood
pressure.
Teens who learn anti-drug messages at home are
42 percent less likely to use drugs.
Ask open-ended questions that encourage conversation.
Avoid questions that kids can answer with a simple yes or
no.
Part of what you can do as a parent is set limits.
Let your kids know that you do not want them in risky situations.
Kids who start smoking cigarettes are more likely
to get lower grades in school.
Kids who smoke 2 or 3 cigarettes a day can get
hooked in just two weeks.
Smokers are 1-1/2 times more likely to lose
their teeth than non-smokers.
Smokers are more likely to go deaf than non-smokers.
Smoking just one cigarette cuts 11 minutes from
your life.
Cigarettes contain over 4,000 chemicals.
Secondhand smoke is just as bad for pets as
it is for people.
Quitting smoking now can boost your energy and
stamina within just a few days.
Sources:
Drug-Free Kids Campaign, PRIDE, MTF, NIAAA, CSAP, DHHS, CADCA,
VTSF and the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign.
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